The New York Times Opposes Alito

by Steve

In its lead editorial in Monday's edition, the New York Times comes out against the confirmation of Samuel Alito. In making its case, the Times succinctly puts the burden on those who will vote in favor of him:

The real risk for senators lies not in opposing Judge Alito, but in voting for him. If the far right takes over the Supreme Court, American law and life could change dramatically. If that happens, many senators who voted for Judge Alito will no doubt come to regret that they did not insist that Justice O'Connor's seat be filled with someone who shared her cautious, centrist approach to the law.

With Ben Nelson of Nebraska being the only Democrat on record supporting him, and even Joe Lieberman talking about the possibility of a filibuster, there will be at least 43 votes against him, barring last-minute cave-ins from other Dems. What will be interesting to see however, is what will happen with the moderate Republicans in the Senate, especially Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and perhaps Lincoln Chafee. Given his ambiguous answers on Roe, would Snowe and Collins really consider voting for Alito, and if so, why?